The child carriers and protectors presently available are generally devices with limited functions. Most so-called child carriers, such as that disclosed by Schimmels in U.S. Pat. No. 4,440,331 are basically infant seats for automobiles or bicycles. As such they are usually limited to constraining the infant and child by limiting its mobility. A few carriers such as that disclosed by Schimmels provide for some type of head or upper torso protection in event of an accident.
Generally, most presently available child carriers offer only limited protection from the environment. For example, Potts in U.S. Pat. No. 4,314,727 discloses a transparent, waterproof "bubble" which protects only the upper-half of an infant in an automobile seat from precipitation. In fact, most child protectors are useful only in warm weather. For example, Pap et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,293,162, discloses a sunshade for an infant seat. Therefore, it is hoped that persons using the invention of Pap et al. do not travel into cold or wet climates.
Moreover, the present inventors are unaware of any device which is adapted to for the safe, weatherproof transportation of infants and small children when they are not constrained in or on a vehicle. There is believed to be a pressing need for an infant carrier which is not adapted for use in or on a vehicle and which provides the child with maximum comfort and support in all kinds of weather, while at the same time allowing for the child to be moved, hands-free, by an adult. Additionally, since most of the child carriers studied are made of rigid materials and are incapable of growing with the child, they have a built-in obsolescence; once the child outgrows the carrier, the carrier becomes an attic relic.
Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide for a child carrier which allows for the safe transport of infants and young children.
It is a further object of this invention to provide for the transport of an infant or young child, without the use of a vehicle, in a hands-free manner.
It is a further object of this invention to provide for child carrier which is able to accommodate children of a variety of sizes or ages.
It is a further object of this invention to provide for a child carrier which is inexpensive, yet durable.
It is still a further object of this invention to provide for a child carrier which accomplishes all of the above disclosed objects, yet has other uses once the child has outgrown the carrier.
These and other objects of the present invention will become more fully apparent with the following drawings and the description of the preferred embodiment.